ATNO #297 Pitcairn Islands VP6J, ATNO QRP #156 CY9C

18.084 CW at 16:48  signals up and down from weak to good copy  on my hex - workable.  Confirmed in Clublog

CY9C was S9 +10  on my meter on the K2 - perfect candidate for QRP.   Propagation jumped and even Pitcairn is open on 12m.

Contact with CY9C signing as NY4G/QRP confirmed in Clublog

The Age Old Question - How Old Is Earth

This post is meant as a follow-up to my previous post.

The following excerpt was written by Greg Neyman in 2005 and I could not have said it any better.

"If God's creation was billions of years old, how would He have written the creation account in Genesis?  One thing is certain...God is good at telling us exactly what we need to know.

     When God refers to a large number, He uses picture stories, such as Abraham's descendants being as numerous as the sand.  Why does He do this?  If God had said, "You will have millions of descendants," Abraham would have asked, "What is a million?" 

     When considering the creation, if we broke it down into days, that would be 5,000,500,000,000 days, or roughly 13.7 billion years.  Do we need an account for each day of creation...of course not.  God in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to tell us the creation story by breaking it down into creative segments, each of which was attributed to a specific creative act or acts.  We need to give the early Hebrews of Genesis a break...they didn't have calculators like we do!

     One must also consider that time with God has no meaning.  To Him, 10 billion years is like a day.  Thus, it is no problem for God to put billions of years into one of His days.  Dr. Hugh Ross puts it best in his determination that the frame of reference for creation is the surface of the earth.  Genesis 1:2 puts the witness of creation on the surface.  But who is witnessing these events?  It is God himself.  During the first 5.99 days of creation, God is the only one present.  Thus, human time does not matter...no humans were there to witness the passage of time.   What matters is how God sees time!  Thus, a billion year day is only a passing moment in God's eyes.

     The creation account is written in such a manner for all people to understand it.  The issue is not how long creation took...the issue is that God did it, and that's all that matters in the end."

Did the English translators do us a disservice?  The divine revelation was given to the Hebrews - the translators merely translated as best they could.   In the end we have to use reason to make the distinction.  

In Defense of the Faith - Genesis As The Atheists Stumbling Block

Apologetics (from Greek ἀπολογία, "speaking in defense") is the discipline of defending a position (often religious) through the systematic use of information. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their faith against critics and recommended their faith to outsiders were called apologists.^[1] In modern usage the term 'apologetics' is largely identified with debates over religion and theology in the USA and is rarely heard in the UK (although the related word 'apologist' is used in British English).   Reference - Wikipedia

The blog title has been changed to "With Mine Own Eyes" because my defense of my position is based on my perspective and understanding.   The reference to John 20 is intended to show the dichotomy between those who believe with limited empirical evidence against those who demand unassailable empirical validation.  The current understanding of "young earth creationists" is that the universe is "young" based largely on the literal 24 hour day of the English translation of the Hebrew Old Testament stating that all creation including that of man took place over a span of 6-24 hour days.   The word used in Hebrew is the word "Yom".   The word "Yom" usage in Hebrew spans many meanings and not just that of a 24 hour period of time.  It is important to know that because Hebrew vocabulary is limited to only 8700 words and English - a half million, understanding the Hebrew needs to depend on context.   Here are several examples of the uses of "Yom" as described by Hebrew scholar Greg Neyman in 2005.    The following are excerpts from his web article.  http://www.oldearth.org/word_study_yom.htm

"Yom" as Time

 

     It is interesting to note that in 67 verses in the Old Testament, the word Yom is translated into the English word "time."  For instance,  in Genesis 4:3, it says "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."  In this instance, Yom refers to a growing season, probably several months.  Again, in Deuteronomy 10:10, it refers to a "time" equal to forty days.  In I Kings 11:42, it says "And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years."  In this case, Yom translated as the word "time" is equivalent to a 40 year period.

     In Isaiah 30:8, it says "Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever."  In this case, Yom is equal to "forever."  How long is forever?  An infinite number of years...billions upon billions upon billons of years.  If Yom can equal trillions of years here, then why not billions of years in Genesis? 

"Yom" as Year

 

     Four times in the Old Testament Yom is translated "year."  In I Kings 1:1, "David was old and stricken in years..."  In 2 Chronicles 21:19, "after the end of two years" and in the very next verse "Thirty and two years old."  Finally, in Amos 4:4, "...and your tithes after threeyears."  In each case, Yom represents years, not days.

"Yom" as Age

 

     Eight times in the Old Testament Yom is translated "age."   These range from sentences like "stricken in age,"  meaning old age (Genesis 18:11 and 24:1; Joshua 23:1 and 23:2), and other times it says "old age" (Genesis 21:2, Genesis 21:7).  Genesis 47:28 refers to "the whole age of Jacob," therefore yom here refers to an entire lifetime.  In Zechariah 8:4, it says old men and women will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, "each with cane in hand because of his age."

     

"Yom" as Always

 

     Four times yom is translated as "always," in Deuteronomy 5:29, 6:24, 14:23, and in 2 Chronicles 18:7.  Always here can be interpreted as a lifetime...for instance, we are to keep the commandments of the Lord always (Deut. 5:29).

 

"Yom" as Season

 

     Three times yom is translated "season."  In Genesis 40:4, "...and they continued a season in ward."  Again, in Joshua 24:7, "dwelt in the wilderness a long season," and in 2 Chronicles 15:3, "...a long season Israel hath been...".  In each case yom represents a multi-month period.

"Yom" as Ever

 

     Ever is used to represent a long period of time, such as in Deuteronomy 19:9, "to walk everin his ways."  Nineteen times Yom is translated "ever."  The old testament uses "for ever" instead of the word forever.  In sixteen cases of use of the word ever, for is placed before it, indicating a infinite period of time.  I will not list them all (consult Strong's Concordance for a full listing) but here is an example.  In Psalm 23:6, it says "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever."  Here Yom is translated as the final word of this verse, ever.  Thus, Yom in this verse, and 16 others, represents eternity.

 

"Yom" as Evermore

 

    In one instance, when yom is used in conjunction with kôwl, Yom is translated "evermore."  Deuteronomy 28:29, "...and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore;" thus representing either a lifetime or eternity.

 

"Yom" Usage in the Old Testament

 

     As you can see, Yom is used in a wide variety of situations related to the concept of time.  Yom is not just for days...it is for time in general.  How it is translated depends on the context of its use with other words.

"Yom" in the Creation Account

      Even within the creation account, Yom is used to represent four different time periods.  

1. Genesis 1:5  "And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night."  Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate a 12-hour period
2. Genesis 1:14  "And God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."  Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate 24-hour days
3. Genesis 2:4  "...in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens."  Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate the entire creative week.

     The fourth usage of Yom in the creation account is in the summary for each of the six creation days, "and there was morning and evening the first day". Yom is used to represent a finite, long period of time, 

The question is have the "Young Earth Creationists" taken the 6 literal days to NOT align themselves with the evolutionists, even though the current scientific understanding of nature is that of the age of the universe is much closer to billions of years as opposed to 6000 years?

The skeptics have assailed the young earth view as being preposterous which then keeps them from believing the more important tenets of the Christian faith - that Jesus Christ existed, that he died a substitutionary criminal's death to allow those who believe His work to have fellowship with God.   An old earth view is not necessarily at odds with Scripture after all.   Will I break fellowship with a "young earth" believer? By no means.  I will defend my position, in a nice and loving way.

Wait A Minute - I Thought This Was About Amateur Radio

Yes it still is about amateur radio - but not all the time.  Yes - and from time to time I will post discussions related to amateur radio.  But amateur radio is not my sole passion nor is it the most important pursuit of my life.  Amateur radio and the science related to it is fascinating but very important to me is the ability to convince skeptics into a world view, a perspective that is shaped in the pursuit of truth as supported by the "scriptures".   The one premise that I hold to is that the writings written by the ancient Jews in the Hebrew language, that is Moses et al, and the writings by the eyewitnesses who lived in the time of Jesus, which was in the Greek language are inherently inerrant and a revelation of truth.   I choose words carefully because words have meaning but care must be taken in the context and the true meaning of the words used.    How we see the world and how we interact with it is shaped by our understanding of it.   So sufficient for now is to let my readers  know that there is a "changing of the guard" on the nature of my posts.   For those readers who anticipate amateur radio related content - do not despair there will be sprinklings of it along the way.  Until next time.

CY9C Saint Paul Island DXpedition #296 All Time New One

August 22
80m 3523 CW 09:46 UTC
30m 10114 CW 02:45 UTC

August 21

160m 1820 - 500w 01:34 UTC

August 20
20m 14014.5 - CW - One Call 13:14 UTC
17m 18077 - CW- 14:00 UTC

With the distance a mere 1400 plus miles, it is a lot like shooting fish in a barrel even with many callers.   A little bit of listening pays off to identify where in the bandpass the DX operator is listening.   I hear a lot of callers calling randomnly.  This is how I am able to make a contact with one or two calls.


August 19 Update:
The operators have landed on the island with very limited equipment.  The radio gear transport has been delayed by heavy rain, rough seas and thunderstorms.  VFR conditions not currently present to fly into either operating site via helicopter.  Rough seas are preventing the landing of two boats to unload gear.

All Time New One #295 Franz Josef Land

Latest Update:  Eugeny (UA4RX) is now back in Russia and his log has been uploaded to Clublog.  Eugeny has very good ears and even my first 30m contact (prior to the insurance contact) has been logged.  Thank you Eugeny for an all time new one.  Victor UA2FM is his QSL manager and promises to answer QSL requests within a week of receipt.  No amateur radio activity from FJL is expected over  the next twelve months.

Original post: RI1FJ has been lurking out there for the past few days but has been very elusive.  He is usually spotted by Russians and Northern Europeans.  He seems to get into Japan quite often and occasionally VK land.  I have never seen him spotted by a US station.  This morning I saw him spotted by a French station and decided to go for a listen.  He was very very weak but he was there calling CQ on my 30m loop. I sent out my call sign several times and heard the familiar AGN.  I sent my call a few more times and heard him say NY4G NY4G 559 559 TU 73.  I then sent him TU DE NY4G 5NN 5NN TU 73 and I heard him come back CFM 73.  This should be the one for the book.


Contacts:
6/29/2016 10102 CW 10:25

7/11/2016 14004 CW 22:23 coming in like gang busters into the east coast -one call

7/21/2016 18091 CW 15:09 loud into the east coast

Up next:

CY9C Saint Paul - August 19-29, 2016
A52ARJ, A52LS, A52EQW, A52AEF Bhutan August 22-27 running barefoot to a Hex
A5 3 person DXpedition headed by Zorro 9/8-17 w/ 2 stations with 1.3kW amp and Tribander
VP6J Pitcairn Islands - August 25-Sept 3, 2016
YX0V Aves Island - August 31- Sept 10, 2016

VP6AH Pitcairn - September 2016

H44GC Solomon Islands  - September 2016
H44COW October 18-21, 2016

4U1UN United Nations HQ - October 2016

XU7MDC Cambodia - November 2016
TL8AO Central African Republic - November 2016

All Time New One #295 Franz Josef Land

Latest Update:  Eugeny (UA4RX) is now back in Russia and his log has been uploaded to Clublog.  Eugeny has very good ears and even my first 30m contact (prior to the insurance contact) has been logged.  Thank you Eugeny for an all time new one.  Victor UA2FM is his QSL manager and promises to answer QSL requests within a week of receipt.  No amateur radio activity from FJL is expected over  the next twelve months.

Original post: RI1FJ has been lurking out there for the past few days but has been very elusive.  He is usually spotted by Russians and Northern Europeans.  He seems to get into Japan quite often and occasionally VK land.  I have never seen him spotted by a US station.  This morning I saw him spotted by a French station and decided to go for a listen.  He was very very weak but he was there calling CQ on my 30m loop. I sent out my call sign several times and heard the familiar AGN.  I sent my call a few more times and heard him say NY4G NY4G 559 559 TU 73.  I then sent him TU DE NY4G 5NN 5NN TU 73 and I heard him come back CFM 73.  This should be the one for the book.


Contacts:
6/29/2016 10102 CW 10:25

7/11/2016 14004 CW 22:23 coming in like gang busters into the east coast -one call

7/21/2016 18091 CW 15:09 loud into the east coast

Up next:

CY9C Saint Paul - August 19-29, 2016
A52ARJ, A52LS, A52EQW, A52AEF Bhutan August 22-27 running barefoot to a Hex
VP6J Pitcairn Islands - August 25-Sept 3, 2016
YX0V Aves Island - August 31- Sept 10, 2016

VP6AH Pitcairn - September 2016

H44GC Solomon Islands  - September 2016
H44COW October 18-21, 2016

4U1UN United Nations HQ - October 2016

XU7MDC Cambodia - November 2016
TL8AO Central African Republic - November 2016

K2L Plaques Arrived

The K2L plaques for winning top state arrived.  Mine also arrived   My teammate Bill N4IQ's plaque is shown next to mine.  The rest of the team's plaques have also arrived.   

YV0 Aves Island - YX0V to be activated

Aves Island -#17 on the most wanted list was just announced - activation August 31 to September 10.  More details to come soon

QSL Route W4DTA/YV5DTA